Claire Cooper
Claire has lived in Newbiggin for 10 years. She works as a teacher and has been interested in Art for as long as she can remember.

She paints, usually in acrylic, but also enjoys printmaking, textile work, sculpture and crafts.

She produces work which reflects her life and beliefs.

Her work is based on observation but can also be abstract in nature.

Claire will accept commissions - you can contact her by telephone or email.
Tel: 01670 811 215. Email: claire.coopsville@sky.com

Alan Driver
Alan came to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea four years ago from his birthplace in Kent, via Buckinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. 

His work, though sometimes considered to be abstract, is inspired by his own lived experiences, whether that be his reaction to landscape, people, objects, music, literature, or even esoteric concepts. 

Alan enjoys working in various media and being open to the life of paint on canvas itself.

Pip Driver

Pip has been involved with art continuously since she was a child, in various forms, including acting, singing, drawing, painting, artists’ model and  artists’ agent.  She eventually settled  into a major preoccupation with the visual arts. 

She  produces work in various media including pastels, oils, acrylics, and embroidery silks.

She loves the fluidity of where the medium takes her.

Eddie Galvin
Eddie moved to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in 2003 from Oxfordshire. Originally from Birmingham, he is a Geography graduate from the London School of Economics and runs his own business in the village, e.g. Recruitment Ltd. Eddie has a wide interest in the arts and enjoys music, painting, theatre & crafts. He is also a trustee of the Mary Joicey Maritime Trust.

He started the Newbiggin Arts Forum in 2006 and although he has had no formal training in Art he is extremely enthusiastic and works tirelessly to promote the arts within the community. It is due to his organisation and persuasion skills that the Forum now has a Painting Group, a Ceramics Group, a Creative Writing Group, a Photographic Group, an Adult Reading Group and a flourishing Kids’ Arts Forum.

Eva Hartley
Eva is self taught in the sense of having no formal art training. She has, however, been married for 26 years to Peter Seddon, a committed ceramicist and art educator, and his love of art has gradually seeped into her being. There it sat, appreciating the work of others in galleries and exhibitions until quite recently, when something touched a chord, a voice wanted to be heard and unexpectedly she took up her own paintbrush.

Eva enjoys experimenting with different media, and loves colour, movement and the natural world. She tries to respond to her work as it develops with no preconceptions as to where the journey might lead.

Peter Seddon
Peter Seddon has recently retired to Newbiggin following a career in art education in East Cheshire.

Inspiration for earlier work derived from the landscape of the Peak District and the foothills of the Pennines (where he lived for so long), the mountains of Snowdonia and northwest Scotland, and the White Mountains on Crete. He also draws inspiration from the prehistoric cup and ring markings found in abundance in Northumberland. Current work is increasingly influenced by the sea and the coast where he now lives.

He creates handbuilt sculptural ceramics and hanging wall reliefs and panels and his two-dimensional work is derived from his exploratory sketchbooks.

Further information at www.peterseddon.com

Nicola Shears
Nicola was born in Newbiggin and studied Fashion Design at Newcastle Polytechnic. On graduating she moved to Milan, Italy, where she worked in the fashion industry as a designer and illustrator.

Since 1999 she has taught Art & Design at the British School in Milan.

Nicola takes inspiration from the natural environment around the Adda River where she lives in northern Italy. She is also influenced by the colours and textures of Italian frescoes and the erosive effects of nature and time on these surfaces.

Pam Shears
Pam was born in Ilford, Essex but has lived in Northumberland since the age of three. She studied at the College of Art and Industrial Design, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and has done various types of freelance work including wallcovering design and artists’ impressions.

Pam works mainly in watercolours and has become well known for her beautiful floral studies. She achieves a soft touchable quality to the petals which appear almost translucent and her subjects range from the palest pink roses through to the deep velvety purples of violets and pansies. On several occasions she has been commissioned to do floral works of specific flowers or to compliment colour schemes. Her watercolours of local scenes are also much sought after and these show competence and skill both in portraying natural colour and light and in achieving pleasing compositions.

Keith Tait
Keith has had a very varied life in the arts. Starting with fine art moving through ceramics and then onto silversmithing which he studied at Camberwell School of arts and crafts in London attaining a BA (Hons) degree in the subject. Whilst studying at Camberwell he worked on pop promo videos dressing sets. After graduating he was a founder member of an arts cooperative “Slow but serious combustion.”

On returning to the North he became involved with a youth project in his home town of Consett joining the management committee. This led to becoming a community artist for several years.

Keith moved to Newbiggin 3 years ago where he returned to his first love of fine art and is now a practising painter/sculptor. Although he does do a bit of design on the side and can't help dabbling in anything creative that presents itself.

As far as hobbies go he admits to being a bit of a nerd messing about with computers and above all the most nerdish an addiction to genealogy and history which often influences & informs his art. From a very early age he has also had a penchant for hitting inanimate objects with his hands and sticks in the name of percussion.

Jason Thompson
Before setting up his web development business full time in 1998 he held teaching posts at Newbiggin Middle School and later Ashington High School where he was Head of the Music Department.

His business, Sound Ideas, is run from home in Newbiggin, and is mainly involved in web site and CD-ROM development and consultancy, as well as web training and photography.

He runs the Newbiggin Community Website and has recently been active in producing a photographic record of the enormous changes taking place in Newbiggin.

He can be contacted on 01670 810370 or at info@sound-ideas.net.

Alan Vinters
Alan has many years experience in the arts both as an artist in a variety of media as well as in arts education in both higher & special needs environments.

In addition to that he has experience in 3d design and has particular expertise in ceramics.

Alan is currently working for the CSV in Newcastle as an Ability Manager; in this role he is very experienced at developing funding applications within the arts sector.

Alan enjoys a wide range of arts activities – he is a ceramicist, potter, painter & musician among other areas of interest.